Trolley-finder



UNITED STATES PATENT (')EEICEA VILLIAM J. DONAHUE AND TARD B. HAUSMAN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

TROLLEY-FINDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 571,994, dated November 24, 1896.

Application led October 10, 1895. Serial No. 565,258. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that we, WILLIAM J. DONA- HUE and IVARD B. HAUSMAN, citizens of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trolley-Finders, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specilication. ,Y

Our invention relates to a new and useful improvement in trolley-wheels, and has for its object 'co-provide such a device that will travel along the feed-wire as readily as the usual form of such devices, and yet which will center the wheel upon said wire should the former become displaced by a side thrust. or from other causes, and its further object is to enable its being replaced upon the feedwire more readily should it become displaced therefrom.

W'ith these ends in view the invention consists in the details of construction and oombination of elements hereinafter set forth and then specifically designated by the claims.

In order that those skilled in the art to which our invention appertains may understand howto make and use the same, we will describe its construction and operation in detail, referring by number to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which- Figure lis an elevation of our improved device, the trolley-pole being omitted; and Fig. 2 is a central section thereof.

Similar numbers denote like parts in the views of the drawings.

l represents the fork, having the usual shank 2, by which it is secured to the trolleypole, and 3 is a shaft-rod secured within the prongs of this fork by @otter-pins 4. Journaled upon this shaft-rod is the trolley-wheel 5, having the central groove G, adapted to travel upon the feed-wire in the same manner and for the same purpose as the ordinary trolley-wheel.

7 and S are spiral vgrooves formed upon either side of the central groove 6 after the .manner of a right and left hand thread, re-

spectively. These grooves 7 and 8 are of smaller diameter at their outer extremities and gradually increase in diameter, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, and finally merge into the central groove 6, but upon a higher plane and at opposite sides, so that the wire upon which the central groove is traveling will have no tendency to slip out of said central 1 at other points, to compensate for, wear upon the center groove. By this construction the trolley-wheel is kept cool, the weight of the wheel is greatly reduced,and the friction upon the shaft-rod also reduced and the wheel rendered more rigid as to side play or wabble.

1Q are cond uctor-springs secured to the fork at l1, their free ends being provided with holes through which the shaft-rod 3 passes, and these springs have a tendency to bear inward, so as to maintain perfect Contact with the rings 9 of the trolley-wheel at all times in order that the current may have a free passage from the trolley-wheel to the motor.

l2 are lugs which project from the upper extremities of the fork to within close proximity to the trolley-wheel, so that the linewire cannot slip between said wheel and the fork. In placing the trolley upon its feedwire it is necessary to manipulate the former against the action of the heavy spring which upholds the trolley-rod, and the only guidance which the operator has is a rope, and this renders it very difficult to place the trolley-groove immediately under the wire and then permit it to move upward, so as to embrace said wire; but by the use of our improvement this accuracy is not necessary, since the wheel is so extended sidewise as to take in a larger space, and therefore itis only necessary to bring any portion of this space beneath the line-wire to place the trolley upon said wire, and should the trolley, when so placed, not be central upon the wire said IOO support, as and for the purpose described.

2. A trolley-finder consisting of a fork, a

wheel rotating between the ends of the forllV said wheel and right and left hand groove` increasing in diaineter toward the center ar merging with the central groove at dianwA rioally opposite points, as and for the purpo described. Y

In testimony whereof We have hereunto our signatures in the presence of two subsoing witnesses.

WM. J. DONAHUE. WARD B. HAUSMAL" lVitnesses:

S. S. WILLIAMSON, JOHN I-I. HENRY.' 

